and didn't know what it meant. Had he just won? Had Osborne caved? What do you mean? he asked.
Osborne snorted. Come on, hotshot. How are you going to ride this to where you want it to take you if you don't have any associates working under you?
Alex hadn't thought about that. Mostly he worked alone. He liked it that way.
Look, it's a little early-
Also, Osborne said, how are we going to justify a big piece of this guy's company if we've only got one lawyer on it? We want him to know he's being treated right.
Alex didn't know whether to laugh or what. Osborne was practically telling him to pad his time. But if this was what it took for Osborne to feel he'd won a little victory in the midst of the way Alex had played him, fine.
I see what you mean, Alex said.
Use the Arab girl, the good-looking one. What's her name?
Alex felt a little color creep into his cheeks and hoped Osborne didn't notice. Sarah. Sarah Hosseini. She's not Arab. She's Iranian. Persian.
Whatever.
Why her?
You've worked with her before, right?
Once or twice.
Osborne looked at him. Three times, actually.
Christ, Osborne was no tech whiz, but when it came to who was billing for what, he was all over it.
Alex scratched his cheek, hoping the gesture seemed nonchalant. Yeah, I guess so.
You said in your review she's unusually confident and capable for a first-year.'
The truth was, the description was an understatement. That sounds right.
She's smart?
Alex shrugged. She has a degree in information security and forensics from Caltech. He knew Osborne might sense a mild put-down in this, but was annoyed enough not to care.
Well, she's not busy enough. Use her. Build a team. Do you have a problem with that?
Why was he pushing it this way? Would the extra lawyer give Osborne a greater claim, maybe to supervise the work, start taking it over, something like that?
Or was he just having fun, teasing Alex, forcing him to work with Sarah because he knew-
No, Alex said, cutting off the thought. There's no problem.
Osborne had pitched the partnership committee as promised about taking on Hilzoy, and the committee had okayed the arrangement. Osborne told him there had been opposition, but Alex suspected that was bullshit. For all he knew, Osborne might not have needed to pitch it at all. Maybe the committee loved this kind of shit-sure, get the associate to bill even more hours, while we keep the profits if his work turns into anything. Maybe Osborne had just positioned it as some Herculean task so Alex would feel in his debt afterward.
It didn't matter. Alex didn't owe anybody. He'd gotten this far by himself. His parents were gone, his sister was gone, his sole remaining family was his prick of an older brother, Ben, who had caused everything and then run away to the army after their father had after he had died. Alex hadn't talked to Ben since their mother's funeral, eight years earlier. Even then, with nothing left but the two of them, Ben wouldn't say where he was or what he was doing. He just showed up for the ceremony and left, leaving all the details to Alex, just as he'd left Alex alone to care for their mother during the last year and a half of her life. After he'd finished the probate-again, all by himself-Alex had sent Ben an e-mail explaining his share of the estate, which was pretty big, as their father had done well and there were only the two beneficiaries. Ben hadn't even thanked him, just told him to send the paperwork to an address at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, saying he'd sign it when he could. For all Alex knew, right now Ben was in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sometimes Alex wondered whether he was even still alive. He didn't care. Either way he was never going to talk to him again.
Goddamn Hilzoy. Alex hated that he needed him, but he did. Because if Obsidian was even half as successful as Alex expected it to be, the seed money was going to be followed by a second, third, maybe a fourth round of financing. After the acquisition or the
Osborne snorted. Come on, hotshot. How are you going to ride this to where you want it to take you if you don't have any associates working under you?
Alex hadn't thought about that. Mostly he worked alone. He liked it that way.
Look, it's a little early-
Also, Osborne said, how are we going to justify a big piece of this guy's company if we've only got one lawyer on it? We want him to know he's being treated right.
Alex didn't know whether to laugh or what. Osborne was practically telling him to pad his time. But if this was what it took for Osborne to feel he'd won a little victory in the midst of the way Alex had played him, fine.
I see what you mean, Alex said.
Use the Arab girl, the good-looking one. What's her name?
Alex felt a little color creep into his cheeks and hoped Osborne didn't notice. Sarah. Sarah Hosseini. She's not Arab. She's Iranian. Persian.
Whatever.
Why her?
You've worked with her before, right?
Once or twice.
Osborne looked at him. Three times, actually.
Christ, Osborne was no tech whiz, but when it came to who was billing for what, he was all over it.
Alex scratched his cheek, hoping the gesture seemed nonchalant. Yeah, I guess so.
You said in your review she's unusually confident and capable for a first-year.'
The truth was, the description was an understatement. That sounds right.
She's smart?
Alex shrugged. She has a degree in information security and forensics from Caltech. He knew Osborne might sense a mild put-down in this, but was annoyed enough not to care.
Well, she's not busy enough. Use her. Build a team. Do you have a problem with that?
Why was he pushing it this way? Would the extra lawyer give Osborne a greater claim, maybe to supervise the work, start taking it over, something like that?
Or was he just having fun, teasing Alex, forcing him to work with Sarah because he knew-
No, Alex said, cutting off the thought. There's no problem.
Osborne had pitched the partnership committee as promised about taking on Hilzoy, and the committee had okayed the arrangement. Osborne told him there had been opposition, but Alex suspected that was bullshit. For all he knew, Osborne might not have needed to pitch it at all. Maybe the committee loved this kind of shit-sure, get the associate to bill even more hours, while we keep the profits if his work turns into anything. Maybe Osborne had just positioned it as some Herculean task so Alex would feel in his debt afterward.
It didn't matter. Alex didn't owe anybody. He'd gotten this far by himself. His parents were gone, his sister was gone, his sole remaining family was his prick of an older brother, Ben, who had caused everything and then run away to the army after their father had after he had died. Alex hadn't talked to Ben since their mother's funeral, eight years earlier. Even then, with nothing left but the two of them, Ben wouldn't say where he was or what he was doing. He just showed up for the ceremony and left, leaving all the details to Alex, just as he'd left Alex alone to care for their mother during the last year and a half of her life. After he'd finished the probate-again, all by himself-Alex had sent Ben an e-mail explaining his share of the estate, which was pretty big, as their father had done well and there were only the two beneficiaries. Ben hadn't even thanked him, just told him to send the paperwork to an address at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, saying he'd sign it when he could. For all Alex knew, right now Ben was in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sometimes Alex wondered whether he was even still alive. He didn't care. Either way he was never going to talk to him again.
Goddamn Hilzoy. Alex hated that he needed him, but he did. Because if Obsidian was even half as successful as Alex expected it to be, the seed money was going to be followed by a second, third, maybe a fourth round of financing. After the acquisition or the
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